Is Bush the new "Nixon"? : The Right's Fear

[Manix]

<snip>

I believe President Bush is in danger of creating a perception about himself that may prove equally hard to eradicate if it is allowed to continue. That is the view he is "Nixonian," having an approach toward politics and policy paralleling that of Richard Nixon. It is characterized by a willingness to subordinate everything to one's re-election — to say and do anything to advance this goal, with no concern whatsoever for the long-term consequences.

<snip>


This is very dangerous for President Bush. Nixon is one of the few presidents in history reviled almost equally by left and right. The former will never forgive him for Watergate and bringing down Alger Hiss. The latter remains disgusted by Nixon's wage and price controls, his creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and other regulatory agencies, and his overtures to the Soviet Union and Red China.


http://www.washingtontimes.com/commentary/20031209-085522-6083r.htm

[JailBush]

1. Is this guy a complete dope?

"With so many on the right comparing Mr. Bush to Nixon, it is only a matter of time before those on the left pick up on it and start making the comparison themselves. With the left's control of the media, it could soon be echoed far and wide. This will not be good for Bush's re-election or ability to govern. He can nip it by expending some political capital on an issue of principle."

Folks on the left are going to start comparing Bush to Nixon? And here I thought they were comparing him to Satan even before September 11. Goes to show how much I know!

[aquart]

2. Yes.

He believes the left controls the media. He is a complete dope.

[Cocoa]

13. that's a bizarre quote

gee, the Nixon comparison never ocurred to me.

Never mind that Karl Rove was part of Nixon's own dirty tricks operation.

[MinnFats]

3. yes, it appears moreso all the time.

the thing that is becoming clearest to me lately, as we hear more and more about the administration jazzing up testimony and documents to boost support for the war....misleading the public, attacking the patriotism of opponents, etc. is this:

Geo. Bush DOES NOT TRUST the American people. He fears that with the straightforward truth and factual information, the people may reach another conclusion....just as Nixon did with SO MANY things, the most memorable being Vietnam and his sabotage of re-election opponents, lying and covering up the watergate affair to the point where the coverup outweighed the breakin itself.


Also...he is perfectly comfortable LYING with a straight face to Americans. As in "I am not a crook," "I had no knowledge of..." "as soon as i heard of blah, blah blah i ordered a full investigation."Yeah, right.

and in view of the last couple of days, recall that Nixon ran promising to restore decency and proper language to the white house....(trying to make points off of the rreports that lyndon johnson unleashed torrents of texas-style profanity) when the tape showed that the foulest of language and all sorts of racial slurs were utterly commonplace in the Nixon white house.....fuggin' hypocrit.


so...yeah, bush is nixonish, but remember nixon was far, far smater than bush...which makes bush a greater threat to the country, civil rights, world peace etc....

[NJCher]

4. bookENDS

I liked this:

"Presidents Nixon and Bush may turn out to be bookends to the conservative era, with their big-government drift."

Let's just hope this (bad) book ends soon, like in Nov. '04.


Cher

[Melodybe]

5. * is 10 times worse than Nixon ever thought about being.

Funny how they failed to mention that both Rumfield and Cheney worked for the Nixon administration.

[tom_paine]

8. Yes, I would LOVE to have Nixon right now

Although the argument could be made that if he inherited the dying Republic through a Bloodless Coup, that he would be proceeding exactly as Bunnypants* has.

It was only the strong and healthy Republic, manned by people who defeated Hitler (not, like today manned by those like the Germans who gave Hitler power.

While on the surface, I say that I would love to have Nixon back, in my heart of hearts I suspect that this, like the fact that Bunnypants* would behave EXACTLY like Saddam if he inherited a nation like Iraq with no checks and balances, Nixon would be EXACTLY like Bunnypants* if he ruled the Amerikan Empire today...

[radfringe]

6. one big similarity in "photo ops"

Nixon only appeared at "public" venues that contained pre-selected and vetted audience members or on military bases/installations - no dissidents allowed

[izzie]

7. Do not worry. Bush and father are into things with flight.

Bush is going to do a new flight thing with his own wings and pass over the capital and drop Reagon dimes on all the homeless people sleeping there.It will be the photo-op to end photo-ops.We all will for get that he is like Nixon in this one great thing and run to polls and vote for him, knowing God talked to Bush so he would do this.

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. Uggh, Limbaugh said something I agree with

"That same day, Mr. Limbaugh talked again about how Mr. Bush revives memories of Nixon. "This administration reminds me of Nixon," he told his radio audience. "He's following Richard Nixon's footsteps on domestic policy" by pumping up federal spending for any group whose votes can be bought."

Now I feel I need a shower.

[radfringe]

10. bought and paid for

http://www.opensecrets.org/presidential/indus.asp?id=N00008072&cycle=2004
GEORGE W. BUSH (R)
Top Industries
Cycle: 2004 All Cycles*

1 Retired $7,108,242
2 Lawyers/Law Firms $5,454,078
3 Real Estate $4,990,321
4 Securities & Investment $3,911,425
5 Misc Business $3,307,846
6 Misc Finance $2,548,099
7 Health Professionals $2,008,167
8 Business Services $1,544,700
9 General Contractors $1,418,870
10 Insurance $1,401,029
11 Commercial Banks $1,321,397
12 Misc Manufacturing & Distributing $1,025,725
13 Oil & Gas $966,075
14 Automotive $953,800
15 Civil Servants/Public Officials $937,442
16 Computers/Internet $904,150
17 Lobbyists $843,262
18 Accountants $723,085
19 Education $680,109
20 Construction Services $583,275

GEORGE W. BUSH (R)
Top Contributors
Cycle: 2004 All Cycles*
http://www.opensecrets.org/presidential/contrib.asp?id=N00008072&cycle=2004

Merrill Lynch $368,200
UBS Americas $269,000
Credit Suisse First Boston $212,050
PricewaterhouseCoopers $209,800
Lehman Brothers $199,500
Goldman Sachs $198,725
MBNA Corp $194,500
Blank Rome LLP $192,900
Bear Stearns $165,000
Union Pacific Corp $161,500
Microsoft Corp $159,750
Haynes & Boone $154,400
Ernst & Young $147,250
Winston & Strawn $144,000
Vinson & Elkins $135,750
SBC Communications $125,750
Citigroup Inc $121,350
Ameriquest Mortgage $120,300
United Technologies $110,250
Morgan Stanley $106,750

[littlejoe]

11. Nixon had nothing on this guy

If you were to compare Bush (I can't even stand to say his name) to anything, it would most definitely have to be Satan

[wysi]

15. Satan...

... only wishes he was as evil as Bush.

[farmboxer]

12. Bush Makes Nixon Look Like Jesus Christ!

Bush is much more dangerous that Nixon!

[tinrobot]

14. So Bush is Nixon...

...seems fitting that he's trying to portray Dean as McGovern.